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Brief Synopsis

Following a scandal in France, industrial promoter Alexandre Saccard fled to Canada and married wealthy young Renée, who was then pregnant after an unhappy affair. Her child, however, was stillborn, and the love--if ever there was any--between the young woman and the older man soon faded. Now living in Paris, Alexandre closes his eyes to his wife's interest in other men until Maxime, his son by a former marriage, comes to live with them after completing his studies in England. Renée's interest in Maxime quickly leads to intimacy, then passion, and finally to love. Not content to be Maxime's mistress, she asks Alexandre for a divorce. Alexandre agrees, on the condition that she relinquish the fortune she brought to their marriage. Blindly in love, Renée consents to his terms and goes to Switzerland for a divorce. But while she is away, the cunning Alexandre confronts his son with two alternatives: he can either run off with the now penniless Renée or become engaged to Anne Sernet, the daughter of a banker whose friendship Alexandre wishes to cultivate. The weak-willed Maxime succumbs to his father's wishes, and Renée returns from Geneva on the night Alexandre is giving a ball to celebrate his son's engagement. As her world collapses around her, Renée contemplates suicide and throws herself into a pool. But she changes her mind and enters the ballroom dripping wet. His revenge complete, Alexandre escorts her to the gymnasium, where she sits and stares into an empty future.